MISSION NIGERIA LES VOTER REGISTRATION SURVEY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 000256 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSFIED. NOT FOR INTERNET POSTING. E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM NI SUBJECT: MISSION NIGERIA LES VOTER REGISTRATION SURVEY ABUJA 00000256 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (U) Nigeria's voter registration exercise got off to a rocky start in October and ended on February 2, 2007. The political section sent a questionaire on voter registration via email to Embassy Abuja, Consulate Lagos and USAID Nigeria locally engaged staff (LES) during the first week of February ¶2007. We present the results not as a scientific study of voter registration, but rather as a useful snapshot of behavior among this group of the Nigerian electorate. Participation was voluntary and assurances of privacy were given. Eighty-three LES employees returned the survey and results show that most (83%) successfully registered to vote. ¶2. (U) The informal survey consisted of five questions: a. Are you currently registered to vote? b. If yes, when did you register? c. How many times did you visit a registration site in order to register? d. How long did you wait in line before leaving the site? e. How confident are you in the registration process. Respondants were also encouraged to share any comments or interesting anecdotes about voter registration. ¶3. (U) Of the 83 Nigerian employees who returned the survey 69 (83%) indicated that they had successfully registered to vote. Of the 14 (17%) who said they were not registered, 13 said they had attempted to register and one person had not tried because he or she was "too busy." Several respondants told us that they did not receive a temporary voter identification card or reciept when they registered. (Note: Each registrant was supposed to recieve a small piece of paper with his name, address, photo, and a bar code as proof of registration. This slip of paper will be used to identify voters on polling day.) Our survey did not explicitly ask about proof of registration, so we cannot be certain how many respondants did not receive it. ¶4. (U) Forty-two respondants said that they succesfully registered to vote on their first try. One staff member told us that he was able to register on his first try because INEC officials agreed to reopen a registration center which had already closed for the day. 51% of all those returning surveys and 61% of all those who eventually registered were successful on their first attempt. Most who were not successful on their first attempt were succesful on their second or third try, although several LES reported having to make 5-10 attempts before eventually registering to vote. In a comment section of the survey, LES said that reasons for making multiple attempts to register included not finding a registration center in their local area, lack of electricty at the site, wait for the registration machines too long, and slow lines at registration centers. One employee reported that when he discovered that there was no power at his registration center, he handled the problem in a novel manner. He went home to get his own generator, registered, and then stayed at the registration site for two hours so his generator could be used to power the computers and allow other voters to enroll. ¶5. (U) Of respondants who are not registered, the reasons given for not doing so included no registration center in their area, irregular hours, erratic power supply, and delays of several hours after arrival at the registration site. One respondant said he was not allowed to register because he did not live where he attempted to register, although many other respondants reported that they were allowed to register out of area. One person said that only one of six adults in her household had been able to register and that less than 35% of the people in her local area had registered. ¶6. (U) It appears that the registration experienced a late surge, which is consistent with numbers publically announced by INEC. 61 survey respondents indicated the month in which they registered, with 9 registering in November, 15 in December, 35 in January, and 2 in the first few days of February. Of the 35 who registered in January, 21 registered in the last week of the month. ¶7. (SBU) COMMENT. The results of this survey do not apply ABUJA 00000256 002.2 OF 002 to the population at large - 100% of the sample set have regular, formal sector employment, a condition notably absent among the majority of Nigerians. That said, it is encouraging that most LES in Mission Nigeria are registered to vote and that often they were able to do so on their first attempt with a minimal wait. Their experience with insufficient electricty and somewhat arbitrary rules and procedures mirrors reports from the Nigerian public at large. The flaw, though, remains that of follow-up. As one employee put it, while the process was transparent, "my fear is that many registered voters will not have a registration slip that allows them to collect a voter's card and cast their vote on election day." Nigeria's election commission could encounter further problems with registered, undocumented voters demanding their rights at the polling place. CAMPBELL